INDIA Bloc Eyes Fresh Wave of Protests Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar After November 1 Rally
New Delhi: The opposition INDIA bloc is already looking beyond the big rally planned for November 1 at Ramlila Maidan. Leaders from the alliance have begun talking about the next phase of their campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with early November emerging as the likely window for another round of protests.
The discussions picked up after the series of marches and sit-ins that took place in central Delhi in the second week of October. Those protests, which saw MPs walking from Parliament towards the Election Commission headquarters and later gathering at places like Rajghat and near the Supreme Court, gave the opposition a sense of momentum. Now they want to keep the pressure going.
CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby told Hindustan Times that several ideas are on the table. “Various options are being considered at this stage. With the political success of our marches in the heart of Delhi, some leaders want a repetition of that massive mobilisation. Another idea is to hold a mock Parliament that will enact the impeachment of Gyanesh Kumar. Other steps have also been suggested,” he said.
A senior Congress leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that nothing has been locked in yet. “Things are being chalked out by the top leadership,” the leader said, adding that both Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal have made it clear the agitation will not stop until Gyanesh Kumar steps down.
The November 1 event at Ramlila Maidan is expected to be the largest mobilisation so far. Delhi Police has already cleared the ground for the Congress and the venue has been reserved from late October through early November. Organisers plan to bring in not just party workers but also students and civil society groups. A coordination committee of 10 to 15 leaders, mostly based in Delhi, is being formed to handle the logistics and decide the shape of future protests.
The core demands remain the same. The INDIA bloc wants Gyanesh Kumar to resign, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to be scrapped or rolled back, and the names of voters who were deleted during the exercise to be restored. Many leaders have also revived the call for a return to paper ballots instead of EVMs. They argue that the SIR process has removed crores of genuine voters across the country, with especially high numbers reported in places like Delhi, and that the Election Commission has not given people a fair chance to challenge the deletions.
The October protests set the tone. On October 6, opposition MPs marched from Parliament and were stopped by police near the NITI Aayog office. They sat on the road for hours. Rahul Gandhi posted a blunt message on X: “Gyanesh, it’s done, bro. Time to resign.” Slogans such as “Vote chor, gaddi chhod” and “BJP hai CEC hai” rang out. Similar demonstrations followed in the days after, with leaders heading to Jantar Mantar, Rajghat, and later the Supreme Court area. In several states, local units of Congress and other INDIA parties organised their own programmes — block-level marches in Bihar, district protests in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and plans for further action running into late November.
Not every party has moved in lockstep. Some allies stayed away from certain marches, and there have been quiet differences over how far to push the demand for impeachment proceedings in Parliament. Still, the broader message has held: the opposition sees the Election Commission under Gyanesh Kumar as compromised and is determined to keep the issue alive.
A senior opposition leader who did not want to be named said the final shape of the next phase will be decided collectively. “No party will unilaterally decide everything,” the leader noted. The new coordination committee is meant to ensure that. Once the November 1 rally is over, the committee is expected to meet quickly and firm up the calendar for early November actions.
For now, the focus remains on packing Ramlila Maidan on November 1. After that, the streets of Delhi and other cities could once again fill with protesters carrying the same demands that have defined the opposition’s politics through October. The INDIA bloc shows no sign of letting the matter rest.
Sources:
– Hindustan Times, “INDIA group plans next round of protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar in early November,” October 22, 2026
– Hindustan Times reporting on the November 1 Ramlila Maidan rally and coordination committee plans
– Statements from CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby and senior Congress leaders as reported in Hindustan Times
– Earlier coverage of October protests from The Tribune, The Hindu, The Statesman, and Indian Express
INDIA Bloc Eyes Fresh Wave of Protests Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar After November 1 Rally
New Delhi: The opposition INDIA bloc is already looking beyond the big rally planned for November 1 at Ramlila Maidan. Leaders from the alliance have begun talking about the next phase of their campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with early November emerging as the likely window for another round of protests.
The discussions picked up after the series of marches and sit-ins that took place in central Delhi in the second week of October. Those protests, which saw MPs walking from Parliament towards the Election Commission headquarters and later gathering at places like Rajghat and near the Supreme Court, gave the opposition a sense of momentum. Now they want to keep the pressure going.
CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby told Hindustan Times that several ideas are on the table. “Various options are being considered at this stage. With the political success of our marches in the heart of Delhi, some leaders want a repetition of that massive mobilisation. Another idea is to hold a mock Parliament that will enact the impeachment of Gyanesh Kumar. Other steps have also been suggested,” he said.
A senior Congress leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that nothing has been locked in yet. “Things are being chalked out by the top leadership,” the leader said, adding that both Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal have made it clear the agitation will not stop until Gyanesh Kumar steps down.
The November 1 event at Ramlila Maidan is expected to be the largest mobilisation so far. Delhi Police has already cleared the ground for the Congress and the venue has been reserved from late October through early November. Organisers plan to bring in not just party workers but also students and civil society groups. A coordination committee of 10 to 15 leaders, mostly based in Delhi, is being formed to handle the logistics and decide the shape of future protests.
The core demands remain the same. The INDIA bloc wants Gyanesh Kumar to resign, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to be scrapped or rolled back, and the names of voters who were deleted during the exercise to be restored. Many leaders have also revived the call for a return to paper ballots instead of EVMs. They argue that the SIR process has removed crores of genuine voters across the country, with especially high numbers reported in places like Delhi, and that the Election Commission has not given people a fair chance to challenge the deletions.
The October protests set the tone. On October 6, opposition MPs marched from Parliament and were stopped by police near the NITI Aayog office. They sat on the road for hours. Rahul Gandhi posted a blunt message on X: “Gyanesh, it’s done, bro. Time to resign.” Slogans such as “Vote chor, gaddi chhod” and “BJP hai CEC hai” rang out. Similar demonstrations followed in the days after, with leaders heading to Jantar Mantar, Rajghat, and later the Supreme Court area. In several states, local units of Congress and other INDIA parties organised their own programmes — block-level marches in Bihar, district protests in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and plans for further action running into late November.
Not every party has moved in lockstep. Some allies stayed away from certain marches, and there have been quiet differences over how far to push the demand for impeachment proceedings in Parliament. Still, the broader message has held: the opposition sees the Election Commission under Gyanesh Kumar as compromised and is determined to keep the issue alive.
A senior opposition leader who did not want to be named said the final shape of the next phase will be decided collectively. “No party will unilaterally decide everything,” the leader noted. The new coordination committee is meant to ensure that. Once the November 1 rally is over, the committee is expected to meet quickly and firm up the calendar for early November actions.
For now, the focus remains on packing Ramlila Maidan on November 1. After that, the streets of Delhi and other cities could once again fill with protesters carrying the same demands that have defined the opposition’s politics through October. The INDIA bloc shows no sign of letting the matter rest.
Sources:
– Hindustan Times, “INDIA group plans next round of protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar in early November,” October 22, 2026
– Hindustan Times reporting on the November 1 Ramlila Maidan rally and coordination committee plans
– Statements from CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby and senior Congress leaders as reported in Hindustan Times
– Earlier coverage of October protests from The Tribune, The Hindu, The Statesman, and Indian Express
@Rohit Manral
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Categories